Oil-gas producer and burner



June 12, 1928.

A. W. HALLENBORG OIL GAS PRODUCER AND BURNER Filed July 5, 1927 PATENT OFFICE.

AXEL W. HALI JENBORG, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

OIL-GAS PRODUCER AND BURNER.

Application filed'July 5,

This invention relates to converting oil into gas for use as a fuel and also for storage and for other purposes. By way of example it is illustrated in the form of heating means for a steam-boiler, for house heating. of the objects is to economize oil, and another object is to produce a simple, durable, inexpensive, compact and reliable apparatus, and to eliminate the 11L1Il1TOUSlI10V- ing parts commonly used in house-heating oil-burners. 1 I

Many burners spray the 'luel-oil into a jet of airywhich makes a yellow flame and is uneconomical. But by this invention a mixture of hydrocarbon gas and air is secured, which produces a blue flame which furnishes great heat and is economical. I

I11 small burners for use with pot-stoves and other small heaters, a saucer of burning alcohol is ignited to heat a bulb containing oil which converted into bythe heat, the gas being led to a burner or jet which is ignited under said bulb, whereby there is effected more conversion of oil into gas; such devices being usually providedwith bafiles and devices, upon which to collect the lampblack which is freely formed and deposited in such heaters and ot' L'UlllSQlLBllClS to find. its Way to the burnerjet and clog the-same, thereby rendering the heater inefl icient and impracticable. The oil inevitably forms carbon during such distillation, which deposits in many places, and renders the device undependable, especially when it chokes up the burner-jets, the only way for preventing this being to provide for the collection of the solid carbon from the gas before the gas reaches the jet. Hence such devices have to be made convenient for disassembling ofthe same for access to the interior, to permit:removal oi" the lampblack at short intervals.

The present invention involves a diiferent principle, in that provision is made for avoiding deposit of lampblack, and the choking of the burner thereby. In place of the old practice of collecting the cooled carbondeposit by means of bafilesin corners in the retort orbulb, the retort is made without corners and with a very smooth bore o'l small One 1927. Serial No. 203,324.

solid carbon exists in the form of very fine particles, which are borne along by thev current of, speeding through the tubular raceway which forms the retort. The carbon condensations, these very small bodies, arei swept up by the current, and are prevented from collecting or combining to tlorln clots or accrmmlations of lampblack, where by choking of the passages and of the needle valve is prevented. No places are left into which the lampblack can lodge or drift. and the gas is kept moving so fast as to give little or no opportunity for :lorming a drift.

Many of the oil-burners in common use do not mix air and fuel until after the place of ignition is reached. In many instances, a mixture of air and oil spray ismade simultaneous with the ignition and combustion. A novel feature of the present invention is that it employs for heavy oil-burners a principle which has heretofore been confined to burning illuminating gas or natural gasin ordinary gas-stoves, etc, that is, the well-known Bunsen principle of mixing air and gas intimately before ignition. The oil is first converted into gas, and then fed through a needle-valve or the like to a Bunsen burner- One of the features of the invention is in the use of a fire-box in burning oil-gas,and inproviding for the mixing chamber of the Bunsen burner to be contained within the improved tire box, where the mixing oil-gas and air are pre-heated on their way to the delivery end of the Bunsen burner.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l. is asectional central elevation, showing details of house-heating furnace having the present improvements applied thereto. I

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the furnace and the oil-burning apparatus.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of portions of the oil-burning apparatus which are within the boiler. i

Fuel-oil in tank 11. is under ten or twenty pounds pressure of overlying air. The oil is thereby forced up through a; pipe 12 which reaches nearly to the bottom of the tank, and which emerges from the top thereof and is provided with valve 13 to regulate the oil-flow. From the valve, a pipe 14 conducts the oil to the retort or vaporizer, designated. generally l9, and

moved) diameter pipe which forms a vaporizing retort in the form of a coil 19,"preferably of two or more whorls. This retort-coilsets in the space that has been usually occupied by the fuel of thehouse-warming boiler.

Said coil encircles a circular cresset or firebOX.15,.jWhlCl1 rests upon legs standing within the usual ash-piet of the boiler (from which the usual fuel-grate has been re- Said creeset or tire-box is shown, byway of illustration, as formed of a base 21 of fire-brick or other plastic molded refractory material resting upon a metal bed 22, to which-the legs 20 are secured. The fire-box includes a cap having flameoutlets 24 in its side walls, just below the encircling coil 19, whereby the coil is wrapped in and heated by flames escapingfromthe tire The coil is made ofmetal of suitable stability. By this means the fuelroil is vaporized which reaches the coil through the pipe 14. The flames also serve to heat the water25 in the hoiler lti, to form steam.

Preparatory to vaporizing the first of the oil, flames are produced in the fire-box. temporarily by means of a supply of illuminating gas. The fire-box receives flames from Bunsenburner, preterably a pipe "whose mixing chamber is in the form of an elbow, that is, a horizontal chamber 26, leading to a vertical chamber 27', vfitting into the open base 22 of the fire-box, the tip o enin into the overl in liame-cl'iamber 28. The household gas fortem 'iorary use is led from amain 29, connected to the usual house supply, and having a flow-controlling valve 30; this main having a jet 31 introduced into the air intake end of the Bunsen burner, so that the house-gas 'mixes with air the Bunsen burner 26, 27.

This mixture is ignited at the discharge end or tip 33015 the Bunsen, burner, the

flames filling the cresset or tire-box and eat caping through the outlets thereof and. heat ing the retort-coil until it becomes red hot,

Ill

or at least suiiiciently hot to vaporize oil. As soon as the-retort is heated, oil is it mitted thereto by opening valve 13. Ft the retort the pipe is continued tangentially and curving broadly at 37 to deliver the gas to a needle-valve 34, having a handle and a nozzle 36,-which is also introduced in the air intake 32 of the Bunsen burner.

The oil in the coil is vaporized by the heat. The' needle-valve 34 is opened, ant-l the vapor or gas into which the oilhas been converted flows past the needle-valve and discharges through the jet 36 andinto the mixing chamber of the Bunsen burner, and

at the tip 33 thereof it is ignited, producing V a blue flame, economical of oil as compared with oil-spray burners.

eliminating the deposit'of lampblack or carbonous substance from the distillation.

The diameterof the pipe forming the coil is made very thin or small to increase the speed, hence the retort is given the form of a circular race, giving the high speed of the gas which is important in overcoming the tendency to clotting of solid carbon. The bore of the coil and of the gas-delivering end 37thereof is made very smooth, to reduce friction and conduce tospeed of gas flow, and avoid catching lampblack or deposits. The bore of the coil may be as small as one-eighth cro ns-quarter of anfinch in many cases, and larger msome cases. This reduction. augments the speed oft-he gas,

practically eliminating deposit of carbon, and also with the result thatthe oil body,

since itexists in the form of a long, thin.

stream, is more accessible to the heat, and 1s more readily converted into gas, especially since the small-bore pipe can be coiled two,

three or more times around the fire box.

The blue flame from the oil-gas is now used for heating the The very thin and long body of oil is more The flame continues until the oil is used III The coil or retort may be support/ed in a set of hangersin the form of metal hooks 38, depending from metal straps 39-Whl0l1 cross the top of the cap and are joined by arivet 40. Clips 41 may also be provided for holding the whorls of the coil together. The

tilevcap 23 may consist of a top with a downwardly-extending circumferential flange fitting within a brim or annular seat 42 in the top of the base 21. The fiame-outlets 24'may be placed at short intervals around the cap, to permit the spreading flames to lap limited to the details shown.

this time there is no oil in the retort.

The invention produces stable gas. I

An air-pump, such, for 1nstance, as a a useful dryv or bicycle-pump 43, may be employed for securing the air pressure which feeds the oil to the furnaceythis pump delivering compressed air throu h a valve 44 to an air-tank 45, which has a elivery valve 46, connected by a reducing valve 47 to an inlet valve 48 controllingit-he pressure in the oil-tank 11. The air-tank 45 is charged with compressed air of say twenty pounds pressure, the pres sure beingreduced to say ten pounds in the oil-tank, wherebyone charging of the tank 45 may be suflicient to expel all the oil in the tank. 11 at approximately uniform pressure." i

The discharging end 37 of the retort-coil enters the jetody 49, which contains the needle-valve 34 at an acute angle tothe direction of the needle. The flow of the gas through the needle-valve is ample and unimpeded, while the valve-handle 35 is accessible, and the needle-valve is of simple construction. The tip of the gas-pipe 37 may be fitted intosocket 5O integral with the jet body containingthe needle-valve, and the angle formed between the pipe 37 and the needle-valve 34 may be much sharper than shown, so as to favor the speed of the gas,

and to minimizethe pocketing of the gas within the]needle-valve-case 49, and to insure that the gas has enough current or flow to clear out any particles of soot that may enter 49, even when the needle-valve is closed to a slow-feedpoint. Said casing may be secured by means of a pair of brackets 51 upon the intake or mouth of the Bunsen burner, the mouth being,however', of suflicient. diameter to permit free inflow of air into the burner.

In operation, the supply of ordinary illuminating"house-gas flows from the main E29 and escapes fromits jet 31 into the mouth 32 of the Bunsen burner, where it is ignited by the use ofa match, producing a flame at the discharge33 of the Bunsen burner, the flame heating the retort. Such illuminating gas premixes with the air of the Bunsen burner. The gas-jetterminates just within the mouth of the Bunsen burner. The house-gas produces a flame, which is. emitted from the outlets 24 of the firebox, and renders the retort-coil usually red hot. At As soon as the retort becomes hot, valve 13 is openedfand oil is forced from the pressuretank by the compressed air, and enters the retort under pressure, and circulates around the firebox, while the blue flame of the house-gas continues. The oil in the coil is converted into gas, which passes through the outlet-pipe 37 and discharges through the needle-valve into the mouth of said Bunsen burner. The jet of oil-gas sucks the airinto the Bunsen burner. The gas mixes with air and thence discharges from the tip 33 of the Bunsen burner, making a powerful blue flame, whichplays upon the retort coil 19, thereby converting more oil into gas for producing more flame, so that the emission of flame from the Bunsen burner is continued until. all the oil in the tank is used up. The supply of illuminating gas, however, is turned off as soon as the oil-gas is first ignited, and thereafterthe oil'gas burns alone. 1

While thefire-box may be made of metal, still tile or other refractory molded material is preferred. The tiles are heated by the flames and emit slow, radiant heat, thereby plays the blue flames from the fire-box, thus giving maximum heating effect and maximum speed, and minimum cooling of the carbon into lampblack on the way to the needle-valve. l

The pressure of the oil-gas due largely to the vaporization of the oil in the retort or generator; there being, in fact, more pressure generated in the retort than is required. The needle-valve is adjustable to control the flow of the oil-gas and thereby control. the heat of the burner and lire-box and coil, as well as the heat of the steam-boiler. A good blue flame can be secured by regulating the needle-valve and using a proper size of Bunsen burner. The combustion depends upon the ratio of the air mixing with the oil gas, and this ratio is regulated by varyingthe size, that is the length and diameter of the mixing chamber of the Bunsen burner. The tile fire-box becomes incandescent and so remains during the operation of the burner. v

This oil-gas is dry, which is ascribed to the employment of multiple coils giving great length with small diameter of pipe used in the retort, and it is heated to such a temperature (around 600 degrees) that it is no longer moist.

The oil producer and burner are adapted a scope of theinvention, and portions'ot the improvements may. be used: Without others. Having thus described my invention, 1

- claim burner, andan adjustable heat-controlling The combination with -an automatic fuel-oil supply, ol' :a retort in the form of a long coiled tubehavinga small, smooth bore,

a.Bunsen burner at the deliveryend of the 'retorhand means for heating-theretort by burning die-mixed air-and gas {from the Bunsen burner, said heating means including a cresset.surrounded by said coils'and heating the same, said. Bunsen burner opening into said cresset. I i

2. The combination of an .oil tank, a 'retort, an automatic and regula'table apparathe for forcing Oll tronrsaidfltanh to said retort, said retort in the form of a long coiled tubelutving a small, smooth bore, a. Bunsen burner at the'delivery end of the retort, means'for heating the retort by burn.- ing the mixed air and gas from the Bunsen valve, said heating means including a cresset surrounded by said coils and heat. 9; the

same, said Bunsen burner; opening into said cresset. i

3. The combination With an automatic fuel-oil supply, of a retort in the tormot a lone coiled tube havin a small. smooth bore Bunsen burner at the delivery end of the retort, 'and means for heating the retort by burning the." mixed air and gas from the Bunsenburner, said heatin means including acresset into which said Bunsen burner discharges,.said cresset havinglateral flameoutlets and said .COll mounted 1n position to be heated by the flames from saidoutlets.

Bunsen burner discharges,- said fife-b0 having flame-outlets and said coil surround ing s. d. firebox'above, said outlets.

5, The combination, with an automatic fuel-oil supp of a retort in thetorm of. a

long coiled tube having a small, smooth bore, a Bunsen burner at thedelivery end of the retort, means "for heating the retort by. burning the mixed air and gas from the Bunsen burner, and a fire-box into Which said Bunsen burner discharges, said fire-box flame-outlets and said coil surrounding said lire-box above said outlets, said lire-boa. being formed of refractory plastic material including a base into which said Bunsen burner discharges, and also including a cover l iavingr the flame-outlets. I I

6. The combination with I an automatic fuel-oil supply, of a retort in the form of a long'coiled tube having asmall, smooth upon 1 having bore, a Bunsen,burner'atthe deliveryend of the retort,mean's for heating the retortby burning the mixed air.-'.and gas from the Bunsen burner and. a fire-box into which" said Bunsen burner discharges, said fire-box having flame-outlets and c said coil surrounding sald firebox above said outlets, .saidifirebox being formed of refractory plastic Inaf te'rial including [base/into which said Bunsen burner discharges, and also including a cover having the tiame outlets, said Bunsen burner in the formjof anelbow having a cumbent mixing; chamber and an upstanding discharge or.1 et open1ng z into said base.

A. heating turnace having ya. zcresset mounted therein and: formed of refractory plastic material, a retort'c0il nested: or wound around said cresset with its whorls spaced apart, means for supporting-said coil, means for automatically supplying oil to said coil, and a Bunsen burner into whichv said coil dischargeasaid Bunsen burnerineluding a. mixing chamber, and having a long coil ed tube having a small, Smooth bore, a Bunsen. burnerat the dehveryend of-the rel oi't, means tor heating the retort by burning the li'llXGCl a r and gas from the Bunsen burner, a tire-box into which said Bunsen;

bin-nor discharges, said fire-box having flame-outlets adyaoent to said coil for heating the same Ho. said coil suroundingsaidfirebox above said outlets, means being provided id firebox for suspending thecoil which siu'ounds the box, and means .forclipping the whorls of the coil together, "with each whorl spaced from the others toaiford.

the llames access thereto. 7 v

v9. An oil-"vaporizing apparatusilnoluding means for supplying the oil, a retort through which the oil: flows, said 'retgortnformed to greatly attenuate the Oil to theproportion 0f fine stream, and'means tor exposing a great length of the attenuated stream to sufficient heat tovaporizetheoil, said heating means an id retort surrounding said. cresset.

10. A house-Warming or slnnlar apparaloo tus, including a water heater, acresset con fined Within said water heateiga blue-flame llunscn, burner P1136" whose delivery end oaens into said cressejt said-crease: havin flamedischarging vents in its sides, means for constantly supplying fuel oil under pres-e sure, and anoilf-vaporizing retortin the form otla pipe leading from. said oil-supply means, said vaporizing pipe made thin for securing highspeed. of fuel travel there-i:

for discharge into said Bunsen burner pipe.

11. Apparatus as forth in claim 10 provided with. means adjustable for regulating the heat of the cresset.

I i 12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

provided with a priming supply ofgas also opening into said Bunsen burner pipe, and provided with means for turning on and ofl. the priming gas.

13. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10, in which the oil-vaporizing pipe is formed in a single piece, with smooth, uninterrupted bore from end to end, and includes a reach extending from said coil to the intake end of said Bunsen burner, said reach merging tangentially into the delivery end of said coil, said coil and reach being poeketless, corner-less and not sufficiently bent to form a lodgment for accumulation of solid carbon.- ous deposits therein from vaporization.

14:. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10,

in which the Bunsen burner pipe has a bend between its intake and delivery ends, the delivery portion of said Bunsen burner extending upwardly from said bend into said cresset.

15. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10, in which the coil is ol such length and suflicient thinness to lack rigidity, and rests upon which the different whorls of said coil are individually supported.

AXEL W. HALLENBORG. 

